Disposable container with signal producing elements

ABSTRACT

A disposable container for use with a system for dispensing a predetermined amount of a liquid. The container is filled with a dry beverage or the like and sealed, and has printed thereon using a metallic ink a plurality of lines or rings, each configured to generate a distinctive response to an imposed electromagnetic signal as a data bit detectable by a sensor proximate to the container. The sensor outputs to a processor a plurality of bits as a series of sequential bits. The processor initiates an action based on the sequence of bits.

This application takes priority from U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/728,638 entitled “Apparatus, System, and Method for the Exchangeof Information”, filed Nov. 20, 2012, the entirety of which is herebyincorporated herein.

BACKGROUND

A vending machine provides various snacks, beverages, and other productsto consumers. The idea is to vend products without need of a cashier.After paying, a product may become available, for example, by: themachine releasing it, so that it falls in an open compartment accessibleto the purchaser, or a machine-pour into a container, or placed into acontainer by the customer, such as by the unlocking of a door, drawer,turning of a knob, etc. Sometimes the product is not just released, butalso prepared; this may be the case, for example, with vended coffee ora ticket that is printed after paying.

A full line vending company may set up several types of vending machinesthat sell a wide range of products. The types of products include candy,cookies, chips, fresh fruit, milk, cold food, coffee, bottles and/orcans of soda, and even frozen products like ice cream. These productscan be sold from various types of vending machines that include coffee,snack, cold food, 20-oz. bottle machines, and glass-front bottlemachines.

With the increase in specialized vending, these machines have becomeincreasingly unwieldy and/or the number of selections in the machineshas become more limited than desired. In particular, when a flavoredbeverage is purchased, the drinks are pre-mixed and bottled or canned.Providing a large selection of such beverages entails keeping a vendingmachine stocked with a large number of bottles or cans. Thus, a needexists for a way to reduce the number or volume of stocked items whilemaintaining the number of selections in an overall product choice.

SUMMARY

A disposable container for use with a system for dispensing apredetermined amount of a liquid. The container is filled with a drybeverage or the like and sealed, and has printed thereon using ametallic ink a plurality of lines or rings, each configured to generatea distinctive response to an imposed electromagnetic signal as a databit detectable by a sensor proximate to the container. The sensoroutputs to a processor a plurality of bits as a series of sequentialbits. The processor initiates an action based on the sequence of bits.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate disclosedembodiments and/or aspects and, together with the description, serve toexplain the principles of the invention, the scope of which isdetermined by the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 2 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 3 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 4 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 5 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 6 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 7 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 8 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 9 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 10 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 11 illustrates an aspect of an exemplary implementation inaccordance with the herein disclosed systems and methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions provided hereinmay have been simplified to illustrate aspects that are relevant for aclear understanding of the herein described processes, machines,manufactures, and/or compositions of matter, while eliminating, for thepurpose of clarity, other aspects that may be found in typical devices,systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art mayrecognize that other elements and/or steps may be desirable and/ornecessary to implement the devices, systems, and methods describedherein. Because such elements and steps are well known in the art, andbecause they do not facilitate a better understanding of the presentdisclosure, a discussion of such elements and steps may not be providedherein. However, the present disclosure is deemed to inherently includeall such elements, variations, and modifications to the describedaspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill in the pertinentart.

The disclosure describes a method to identify and/or initiate a programor other action of an automated liquid dispensing system. The automatedliquid dispenser system may operate with drop-in disposable containerscontaining at least one dry ingredient which, when punctured by a needleor other means and injected with a predetermined amount of liquid suchas water, will dispense a specific amount of the liquid mixed with thedry ingredient(s). The containers can be filled with dry medication, drybeverage mix, dry pet foods, and the like, and the liquid may bedispensed into a cup or bottle having a predetermined size.

A container inserted horizontally through a template access hole or porthole in a mechanism will have a series of metallic lines printed on thepackage or substrate. A cylindrical beverage container may have a seriesof metallic lines of different thickness or length, and/or concentricmetallic circles printed on them using a highly conductive metallic ink.Such an ink may contain copper gold silver aluminum or other conductivemetals. Each metallic ring represents a data bit. A start bit and an endbit have identifiably different electromagnetic responses to a imposedelectromagnetic signal which may be detected by a sensor. The sensor maydetect, for example, the lines' or circles' response pattern orresonance or oscillation induced by the imposed signal, and may becompared to a specified response or otherwise measured to determine thebits represented by the lines or rings.

A cartridge or container containing powdered coffee, tea, or other drymix may be introduced into a processing device manually orautomatically, depending on the application. The dry mix may be sealedinside a cylindrical, truncated conical, or other geometric configuredcontainer with an end cover and/or sealant applied after the containeris filled. The user may place the container in a predetermined receivingspace on the device, and by means of gravity or pressing an lever or thelike on the device, container may move perpendicularly across a sensor'sdetection field. In another embodiment, a sensor may be moved across andorthogonal to a horizontally disposed area on the sealant cover. Aneedle or hollow pin may then be inserted into the container to inject aliquid to be mixed with the dry ingredients, to dispense a solution ofthe liquid mixed with the dry ingredient(s).

Another embodiment may perform certain automated actions. For example, acontainer containing powdered coffee, tea, or other dry beverage mix maysealed inside a cylindrical container or the like with an end cover orsealant applied after the cartridge is filled. The user may place thecylinder or container or cartridge in a receiving position on amechanism. A sensor may recognize that the cartridge or container is inplace and proceed to put the cartridge in a position for processing. Forexample, the process can be a medical process such as dispensingmedication, such as by pressing on a pressure rod such as types used insyringes to automatically dispense medication. Predetermined amounts ofpressure may thereby be applied, such as into catheters or other suchreceiving material.

A radio frequency (RF) responsive metallic ink may cause a response toan imposed electromagnetic (EM) field or signal, which may be detectedby a balanced or tuned electronic oscillator or mixer. The ink canelectrically be seen as capacitive or inductive. This metallic ink orother structured mass responsive to high-frequency energy, will cause areaction on the on the flow of electrons in any electromagnetic field.This electromagnetic field generated by an oscillator or oscillatingcircuit, will either be shifted in phase, frequency, reactanceinductance, These are changes interpreted by the sensor as single binarybits, the output is a series of sequential bits. They are then sent to amini or micro processor. The microprocessor may then signal or otherwiseinitiate a required action automatically without human input.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in exemplaryforms with a certain degree of particularity, it is noted that thedescription and illustrations have been made by way of example only.Numerous changes in the details of construction, combination, andarrangement of parts and steps may be made. Accordingly, such changesare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure, theprotected scope of which is defined by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to identify a program for an automated dispensing system for liquid containers, comprising: imposing an electromagnetic signal on a sealed container having a plurality of electrically conductive rings, each ring distinctively responsive to the electromagnetic signal and representative of a data bit; reading with a sensor the response of at least a portion of the rings to the signal to detect the rings' respective data bits; and outputting to a processor the detected bits as a series of sequential bits; and automatically initiating by the processor an action at least partially based on the series of bits.
 2. A disposable container for use with a system for dispensing a predetermined amount of a liquid, comprising: a continuous sidewall with a bottom, the sidewall and bottom defining a container having an external surface and an internal cavity with an opening at the top; a container cover adapted to sealably cover the opening at the top of the container; and a plurality of metallic lines disposed on the external surface of the container, each line configured to generate a distinctive response to an imposed electromagnetic signal as a data bit detectable by a sensor proximate to the container.
 3. The container of claim 2, wherein the metallic lines are printed on the external surface of the container.
 4. The container of claim 2, wherein the container forms a right circular cylinder or truncated cone, and the metallic lines form a plurality of concentric circles on the bottom of the container.
 5. The container of claim 2, wherein the metallic lines are formed using a metallic ink printed on the container.
 6. The container of claim 2, wherein the metallic lines comprise at least one of copper, gold, silver, or aluminum.
 7. The container of claim 4, wherein each metallic ring represents a data bit.
 8. The container of claim 7, wherein a first predetermined one of the rings represents a start bit, and a second predetermined one of the rings represents an end bit, and wherein the start bit ring and the end bit ring have responses to an imposed electromagnetic signal that are detectibly distinct by an external sensor proximate to the container.
 9. The container of claim 2, wherein: the container contains a dry mix which, when combined with water, forms a beverage; and the dry beverage mix is sealed inside the container by applying the cover after the container is filled with the dry beverage mix.
 10. The container of claim 2, wherein the container is filled with a medication.
 11. The container of claim 2, wherein the container is filled with a pet food. 